minimicropup's reviews
479 reviews

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.5

‘Omg let me off this boat already’. Slogging through this main character’s long-winded thought process had me feeling like I was buddy-reading this with a six-year-old 🫠

Energy: Naïve. Grim. Concerned

🐺 Growls

Wayy too long - not enough substance for almost 400 pages. Ending was Scooby Doo and killed what little suspense was left for me. Surprise twist came out of nowhere in a way that read very ‘grade eight creative writing class - crap I wrote myself into a corner and this is due tomorrow’. Circling back on formulaic inner monologue and speculation felt like unnecessary filler. Too much ‘Who should I tell?! When should I tell it?!’ stall outs.

🐕 Howls

Constantly eye-rolling at the main character gets old fast and wasn’t believable [Ivy is acknowledged as having terrible…intellect? But it’s like she is there to react in whatever way is needed when the story would otherwise fall apart]. Wish it was more atmospheric, especially for the setting. Tone was too serious for how the story is told (should’ve leaned more into over-the-top camp?). Waiting 209 pages to describe the main character’s appearance.

🐩 Tail Wags

The first few chapters. Initial intrigue as something seems off on the boat.

Scene: 🇦🇺 Set along the coast of Australia from Queensland toward Darwin on a sailboat.

Perspective: An NYU student taking a break from school after a break-up to travel Australia with their former roommate. They convince them to get paid while traveling as a sailboat crew for a father and daughter duo.

Police transcripts of interviews after an incident on the boat foreshadow what will happen on the trip.

Timeline: January 2020

🔥 Fuel: Escalating stakes. Revelatory backstories. Character investment. Foreshadowing. Whose body parts were found? Did something happen on the boat?

📖 Cred: Suspend all the disbeliefs

Mood Reading Match-Up:

Sweat. Gasoline. Hot dust. Shrimp. Sailboat cabins. Hoodies. Rotten beach smell. Coastline. Waves.

· Somethings off father-daughter dynamics

· Vacay gone wrong

· Friendship at odds

· Mutinous, who to trust, hidden motives sailing trip

· Hearing every thought first person

· Naïve main character

· Mysterious strangers

· On the run secret pasts

Content Heads-Up: Teacher-student relationship. Stalking. Parental abandonment (very brief recall). Pornographic images (recall). Sexual content (off page; recall). Trafficking. Abusive parent. Abduction. Murder. Psychopathy/personality disorder. Drugging. Physical attack. Sexual assault, possibly rape (implied). Covid/pandemic (briefly at end). The cat is okay.

Rep: American. Australian. Fijian American. Cis. Hetero. Tanned, and freckled skin tones.

📚 Format: Library Paperback

My musings 💖 powered by puppy snuggles 🐶

Content Warnings

Bright and Tender Dark by Joanna Pearson

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Loved it! Partly the story and partly how it’s stitched together with all my favourite styles and tropes. This is not a book to take long breaks from though. I’d be so confused/bored coming back to it if I didn’t remember all the little random events and people.

Energy: Distraught. Suspicious. Mysterious.

🐕 Howls: Small plotholes (like no one noticing someone’s face is bruised and bleeding).

🐩 Tail Wags: Letting the character snapshots sometimes overshadow the murder mystery in an intriguing way. How the snapshots interconnect but seem so random sometimes. Natural incorporation of social media. Characters that feel real. Character depth and development even for peripheral or non-consequential ones. Letting the story end on its own with unanswered questions (except for the murder, that is resolved). Me rushing to judgement with the suspect list, then feeling bad about it later 🥺

Scene: 🇺🇸 Set in a North Carolina campus town. 🍂 Mostly in November and December.

Perspectives (10): A grant writer unraveling after divorce and thinking of their university roommate who was murdered. A teen navigating high school while supporting their mentally ill parent. The parent of the accused murderer who believes their child is innocent. A spouse marrying into a blended family with a baby on the way. A professor with a penchant for young students. The professor’s loyal spouse. Friends of the murdered student. The murdered student. A residential assistant at the apartments where the murdered student used to live.

Timeline: 1999 and 2019. Presented in chunks starting with 2019.

🔥 Fuel: Starting at the ending. Parallel plots. Gradually revealed twists. Atmospheric tension and intrigue.

📖 Cred: Realistic

Mood Reading Match-Up:

Students shouting. Bourbon. Dusky bar. Diner. Reddit posts. Bonne Bell Lip Smackers. November chill. Sticky tables. Dining hall. Dorm rooms. Y2K. Church-sponsored youth group. Cigarette smoke. Deodorant.

· Atmospheric autumnal academia and campus towns

· Literary murder mystery

· Cast of morally grey, complex, unlikeable and likeable unraveling characters

· Abrupt, somewhat unconcluded endings

· Throw in in the story, left to infer, ghost in the room with our eavesdropping narrator as guide

· Religion as giving hope and harm

· Sprinkling of social media sleuthing and reddit style posts

· Show-not-tell social commentary, clues, and reveals (good book club discussion book?)

· Snapshot study of large cast of characters

· Hints of randomness and slice-of-life character dev

· Cinematic writing style

Content Heads-Up: Teacher-student relationship. Seizures (on page). Alcohol (partying, casual). Stalking (ex-partner). Obsession. Cannabis use. Misgendering. Loneliness. Social anxiety. Miscarriage (brief but descriptive recall). Loss of parent (as adult). Potential false accusation, imprisonment. Mental illness. Mania. Suicide, suicidal ideation (very brief mentions). Sexual content (brief; consenting, intoxicated). Sex shaming (of male). Anoxic brain injury (very brief). Nicotine (cigarettes). Loss of partner. Accidental death. Neurological disease, demyelination. Dog attack (on page). Cystic acne (negative thoughts). Vomit. Religious abuse, trauma (Christian). Abduction. Infertility. Sexual assault, rape, violence, exam. Violent alcoholic.

Rep: American. International student (Ukrainian). Cis. Trans. Hetero. Pale, dark, tanned, golden, and sallow skin tones. Intellectually disabled. Christian.

📚 Format: Library Digital

My musings 💖 powered by puppy snuggles 🐶

🥺 Potential Fav of 2024

Content Warnings

The Long Way Back by Nicole Baart

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Not for me, but it wasn’t a bad book. Just a hard read once we get into the last bit. .

Energy: Empathetic. Energetic. Restless.

🐺 Growls: If I knew the entire premise, I wouldn’t have read it, too irl anxiety-inducing! That’s not the book’s fault, just a 'me' pref

Eva is kidnapped by a fundamentalist Christian cult and there’s a terrorist attack at an event that was supposed to be a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community

🐕 Howls: Slow pacing I liked until the last bit (just because I didn't wanna be there anymore).

🐩 Tail Wags: The rationale for the mother-daughter social media channel and how it evolved. Initial mystery and Eva navigating what happens. Snippets between chapters. The characters.

Scene: 🇺🇸 Set in Landing, Minnesota near Lake Superior

Perspectives (2): First we get the perspective of a parent dealing with the disappearance of their teen who just quit their shared Instagram travel account ahead of graduating. We get to see how they got started and the effect that had on them both. Then we get the perspective of the missing teen, revealing what happened and how.

Chapters interspersed with snippets of past Instagram posts, podcast and other transcripts, and practice college essays.

Timeline: Current (2020s). Past (2010s). Linear for both timelines.

🔥 Fuel: Cliffhangers. Emotional investment in characters. Moral quandaries. Race against time. Where is Eva? What happened between her and her mother before her disappearance?

📖 Cred: Hyper-realistic to plausible

Mood Reading Match-Up:

· Fly on the wall, reader role as the empathetic listener

· Bittersweet mother-daughter bonds

· Characters you can root for

· Instagram travel influencers behind-the scenes

· Shattered illusions

· Missing person mystery & perspective

· Psychological survival thriller action scenes

· Slow-burn psychological suspense

· First love coming-of-age
· Swipes of Byronic heroism

Content Heads-Up: Alcoholism (parent). Loss of parent (as teen). Missing child (teen). Poverty, homelessness (in childhood). Generational trauma. Bullying, fatphobia, body shaming (brief but graphic; high school). Potential false accusation. Sexual harassment (online, isolated environment). Adult/minor relationship. Confinement, kidnapping. Injury, blood. Radicalization, anti-government. Fundamentalism (Christian; anti-LGBTQ, anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant, White nationalism). Bombing, mass shootings. Gun violence.

Rep: Black, White, Latina, and Indigenous American. Hetero. Cisgender. Pale, dark, freckled, and golden skin tones.

📚 Format: Paperback

My musings 💖 powered by puppy snuggles 🐶

Content Warnings

Do What Godmother Says by L.S. Stratton

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

This stalled out until a blur of things happened at the end. I struggled to stay interested. Avoid the audiobook, it’s terribly produced and does the book a huge disservice 😒.

Energy: Guarded. Hesitant. Stately.

🐺 Growls

Repetitive, dull romantic ponderings. Current day romance felt forced. Too contradictory… Shanice is suspicious and prone to over-thinking, but at convenient times she’s a totally different person blindly trusting strangers and ignoring huge red flags. Spotlighting plot twists with character inaction.

Terribly edited audio was so jarring, what was that? There were huge differences in volume mid-sentence from muffled (standing in a different room?!) to WAY too loud (like standing too close to the mic) and parts were obviously re-recorded but not spliced in properly.

🐕 Howls

Gaps in the story that were hard to overlook. Switched tone and style in an erratic way at times (felt unfinished?). Didn’t get any gothic or horror vibes from this.

🐩 Tail Wags

The concept. Intriguing 1920s timeline. Estelle’s character arc.

Scene: Set in Washington DC (current timeline) and New York City (past timeline).

Perspectives (2): An unpaid intern trying to get into the magazine industry after giving up their well-paying job to follow their dreams. A talented artist confined by racism gets a chance to invest in their work with a too-good-to-be-true offer.

Timelines: Current (2020s). Harlem Renaissance (1920s).

🔥 Fuel: Emotional investment in characters. Foreshadowing. Crossing paths and layered mysteries. Past meets present. What’s the story of the painting? Would someone kill to get it? Why? Will Shanice get over her break-up and trust again? Is Estelle in danger as a commissioned artist?

📖 Cred: Blended historical suspended disbelief

Mood Reading Match-Up:

Metro card. Grandma’s bungalow. Art appraisals. Coast-side mansions. Parking garage.

New romance while getting over the old
Family heirloom with a past
Deep in their minds character studies
Dual timelines
Snippets of Harlem renaissance
Mentally yelling at characters
Multiple suspects stalker suspense
Horror Lite though horrific things happen
Occult, omens, ghostie séance energy historical fiction romance
Commentary around race, gender, what we inherit, and class inequality
Ancestral connections cozy mystery

Content Heads-Up: Racism, classism (prejudice, bias, slurs, exploitation). Murder. Relationship Break-up. False accusation. Theft, burglary. Panic attacks, hyperventilation (on page). Unemployment, financial insecurity. Generalized anxiety disorder. Car accident (fatal). Loss of parent (as child). Loss of family. Confinement (in room). Abortion (discussion). Forced pregnancy. Stalking, home invasion, threats. Sexual content (consenting).

Rep: Black, White, Indian American. Nutmeg-hued, brown, peachy, pale, and freckled skin tones. Cisgender. Hetero. Generalized anxiety disorder.

📚 Format: Everand Audio

My musings 💖 powered by puppy snuggles 🐶

Content Warnings

You're Invited by Amanda Jayatissa

Go to review page

dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Everyone was a mess I couldn’t look away 🤭

Energy: Frenzied. Brazen. Lively.

🐕 Howls

Relies a little too much on ‘this story would be over if people just communicated even a little’, but that’s also life.

🐩 Tail Wags

Hooked by the Prologue. Thrown into the story style. Withholding that works, since it adds intrigue and we get the tea from interviews between chapters. Sprinkling nuanced clues we can use to make predictions and piece together the story (but can also go with the flow and still enjoyable).

Scene: 🇱🇰 A historic and luxury beach hotel and the Colombo 07 district of Colombo, Sri Lanka

Perspectives (2): The bride’s childhood friend on the morning of the wedding and leading up to the wedding. The bride leading up to the wedding.

Interview transcripts with police speaking to wedding guests and family/friends.

Timeline: 2020 (no COVID).

🔥 Fuel: Withholding. Starting at the End. Revelatory backstories. Unreliable narrator. Why is Amaya so intent on attending the wedding? Why does something seem so off about her invitation? What is Plan A,B,C?

📖 Cred: Plausible to suspended disbelief

Mood Reading Match-Up:

Art deco. Instagram likes. Avocado toast. Email notifications. Humidity. Car horns. Aftershave. Araliya tree flowers. Cocktail dress. Fairy lights.

· Past friends, past romance rivalry

· Revenge fantasies and scheming

· Getting the tea, scandals, cons, gossip

· Unhinged, desperate, or hopeful?

· Insufferable influencer

· Sri Lankan culture and insight

· Rich family drama and secrets

· Weddings gone wrong

· Whodunnit, whatisit mystery

· Red herrings and multiple suspects

· Nuanced clues, hints and puzzles

· Good for Them Revenge

· Interview transcripts, eavesdropping on thoughts, characters diretly musing to the reader

· Easy to imagine settings and somewhat explorable with Google Earth (some real addresses/places given)

Content Heads-Up: Obsessive, intrusive thoughts. Sexual content (off page; consenting, sub-dom). Jealousy. Class divides. Impacts of colonization. Loss of parent (as child). Parental rejection. Cancer (brief mention, terminal). Self-inflicting pain. Fatphobia. Body shaming (clothing, size). Relationship shaming/pressure (marriage, children). Forced gender roles. Patriarchy. Toxic femininity. Outing, possible sexual assault/rape. Blackmail. Domestic abuse (threats, violence, controlling). Cocaine use (off page). Pedophilia (off page). Guns.

Rep: Sri Lankan, Sri Lankan-American. Sri Lankan/British ancestry. American. Cisgender. Hetero. Sinhalese Buddhism.

📚 Format: Kindle

My musings 💖 powered by puppy snuggles 🐶

Best House On the Block by T.R. Ragan

Go to review page

Did not finish book. Stopped at 20%.

Scene: 🇺🇸 Set in the Fabulous Forties neighbourhood of Sacramento, California.

Starts off strong with that prologue but dnf at ~20%:

Handles the cast of characters by listing first and last names, at best some hair colour, but mostly just names we gotta remember. There’s nothing to anchor them in our minds or give us first impressions. [This might only be a mind’s eye reader problem]
This is made worse by peripheral/seemingly one-off characters being referred to the same way. ___ is ____’s golfing buddy and they met via ____, who’s related to ___. I’m slightly exaggerating, but my character notes were a mess.
This is made much worse by how the characters all sound the same and feel robotic or stilted in how they speak
Too much info dumping the plot with little room for intrigue, immersion, or inferring for ourselves. If you like that style or want a basic easy read it could work except that character problem makes it not that.
I was looking forward to the world building but other than what reads like a list of facts I already Googled, this story could take place anywhere with big houses.
Instead of the reader being thrown in the story the story is thrown at the reader. ___ does this, then that, then thinks this, that says that.

📚 Format: Advance Reader’s Copy from Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley

My musings 💖 powered by puppy snuggles 🐶

Content Warnings

After Image by JAIME. DEBLANC

Go to review page

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

This started off so good. The last half and end did not work for me. It felt like someone was like, ‘Needs More Action Thrills’ and tried to work it into the plot at the last minute. 😅

Energy: Frustrated. Moody. Impatient.

🐺 Growls

Situations seeming orchestrated for action-suspense knocked me completely out of the story. MC mucks things up constantly but stumbles into answers through ‘mind-reading’/incredible luck. Contradictory inner monologue with unbelievable main character decisions. Plotholes, rushed ending. Convoluted, unresolved ending left too much unanswered.

🐕 Howls

Main character doesn’t learn, has no survival instincts, and interferes too much with the police investigation in a way that is both frustrating and boring. Unconvincing romance and dialogue.

🐩 Tail Wags

Being hooked on the story for most of the book. The plot premise (until the end). Learning about the backstories and circumstances leading up to Allie’s disappearance. The complex sister bonds. The realistic obstacles to amateur sleuthing attempts (at first). The flashbacks timeline and family dynamics.

Scene: 🇺🇸 North Hollywood and surrounding area, California.

Perspective: Our main character was enamored by their stepsister’s parents – a famous director and actress, and the stepsisters formed a close bond growing up. Then in college, their stepsister went missing under mysterious circumstances.

Timeline: Current. Recent past 2012 to 2014 when the characters were in College together. 2007 when our MC first met their stepsister.

🔥 Fuel: Cliffhangers. Layered secrets. Not all is as it seems. Did Allie voluntarily disappear or was she a victim? What happened to her? Why?

📖 Cred: Starts off true crime style realism. Ends far-fetched over the top.

Mood Reading Match-Up:

Disinfectant. Body odour. Nikon SLR. Diners. Apple pie. Police station. House parties. Vodka. Expensive perfume.

Haunted by the past missing sibling mystery
Blended family drama and dysfunction
How ‘missing or murdered’ cases affect family
True crime-ish contemporary fiction
Complex sisterhood
Amateur sleuthing bad-at-it-but-still-get-results
Hidden in plain sight slow burn to action suspense
Narratives where reader is the listener/tag-along
Will they or won’t they romance
Red herrings
Tragic friendship, odd couple beta hero romances

Content Heads-Up: Alcohol, drug use (partying, addiction, intoxicated, self-medicating). Vomit. Conversion disorder (blindness). Sobriety. Loss of parent. Loss of sibling. Suicide attempt, suicidal ideation (recall). Homophobia (parental rejection). Incest, pedophilia, grooming, child sex abuse and exploitation (recall).

Rep: Hispanic and White American. Cisgender. Hetero. Gay. Conversion disorder.

📚 Format: Advance Reader’s Copy from Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley

My musings 💖 powered by puppy snuggles 🐶

Content Warnings

The Plus One by S.C. Lalli

Go to review page

Did not finish book. Stopped at 15%.

getting the feeling from the first bit that this will be a frustrating read - annoying mc, withholding for tricking the reader etc. Checked reviews and looks like that is the general approach. Thanks to everyone else who read it for saving me the slump!

The Clinic by Cate Quinn

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

At first I liked this story. But the over-scheming and a corny convoluted plot that was so boringgg killed it for me.

Energy: Accusatory. Audacious. Judgemental.

🐺 Growls: Abrupt shift from intriguing to silly. Villain monologue + everyone making dumb decisions…constantly. Contrived, convoluted, and scientifically/psychologically contradictory storyline. One-dimensional villain.

🐕 Howls: Not sure about that mental health rep….seemed preachy and didn’t address wildly inaccurate claims presented as fact by characters. Poorly researched scientific context that kept knocking me out of the story.

🐩 Tail Wags: Easy listening audiobook for long commutes. Character personalities. The setting. Visceral exploration of addiction and rehab industry.

Scene: A high-end but secretive rehab facility in the Pacific Northwest.

Perspectives (3): A famous country singer who died in rehab. Their sister also struggling with addiction determined to infiltrate the rehab facility and find out what happened. A manager recruited to work at the rehab facility.

Timeline: Current (2020s). Linear.

🔥 Fuel: Foreshadowing. Undercover quest. Unreliable/struggling narrator.

📖 Cred: Turn all your disbelief off over-the-top far-fetched

Mood Reading Match-Up:

Emerald grass. Mist. Meditation. Incense. Tiger Balm. Blowfish. Lavender. Liquid nitrogen.

Addiction struggles
Accident, suicide, or murder?
Mad psychiatrist sci-fi moments
Dark side of celebrity and rehab
Close proximity hook-ups and catching Feelings
Machiavellian scheming, traitor among us
Patient journal and med file snippets
Brooding, self-sacrificing main characters
Bystander style narratives ranging from in the character’s minds to fly on the wall
Meandering plots, silly situations

Content Heads-Up: Addiction (graphic, on page; experiences, withdrawal, denial, enabling). Gambling. Drug use (oxy, heroin). Loss of sibling. Alcoholism. Overdose. Violence (physical). Parental abuse/rejection. Repressed childhood memories. Medical (sedation, seizures). Intrusive thoughts. Human trafficking (brief mention). Hallucination. Sociopathy/antisocial personality disorder/psychopathy. Suicide attempt (off page). Confinement. Hypothermia.

Rep: White, Black, and Latina American. British. Pale, golden, caramel, and dark skin tones. Cisgender. Hetero.

📚 Format: Everand Audio

My musings 💖 powered by puppy snuggles 🐶

Content Warnings

You Will Never Be Me by Jesse Q. Sutanto

Go to review page

dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Listened to this in one day, it went so fast. This is one of those books where I was always relieved to find there were pages left to read 😀

Energy: Exacting. Devious. All-consuming.

🐩 Tail Wags: Pacing of twists and turns. Catching myself rooting for the Big Bad. Insufferable characters (in the fun way). Exploration of influencer culture. Getting the tea, behind closed doors. Narrative style. Intrigue.

Scene: 🇺🇸 Set in Los Angeles, California

Perspectives (2): A beauty influencer who took an aspiring social media star under her wing and together they turned into Momfluencers. The aspiring social media star after making it big with 5 million followers as a Momfluencer.

Timeline: Current (2020s), linear.

🔥 Fuel: Unhinged narrators. Twists and turns. Atmospheric tension. Both narrators seem to believe what they’re telling us, but is it all true?

📖 Cred: Over-the-top true crime realism

Mood Reading Match-Up:

Roast chicken. Burnt brussel sprouts. Diaper bags. TikTok. DMs. Toddlers. Filters. iPad. Calendars. Hectic home life.

Narratives that have you feeling complicit in the characters’ secrets and bad behaviours
Written like the characters are speaking to us sometimes, addressing what reader probably thinking
Straightforward, slightly melodramatic, gritty writing style
Plot driven twists and turns, elevating tension and intrigue
Betrayal and revenge
Manipulative, unhinged characters
Shattered social media illusions
Momfluencers behaving badly
Psychological thriller
Supporting women’s wrongs

Content Heads-Up: Relationship breakdown (marriage). Breast feeding, milk, nipples (descriptive, brief). Personality disorder/psychopathy. Infidelity. Online harassment, trolling. Loss of parent (as child). False accusation. Internalized racism (negative stereotypes and attitudes). Fatphobia. Domestic abuse. Toxic friendship, toxic relationship. Obsession, stalking. Resentment. Theft, trespassing.

Rep: Asian ancestry. American. Peach, cream, and ambiguous skin tones. Cisgender. Hetero.

📚 Format: Libro.fm

🤩 Potential Fav of 2024!

My musings 💖 powered by puppy snuggles 🐶

Content Warnings

More...

minimicropup's reviews 479 reviews

minimicropup's reviews
479 reviews